The base of a toilet must be secured in place over an opening in a floor into which the upper end of a drainpipe extends and the waste outlet of the toilet must be communicated with the drainpipe in a leak proof manner. In order to realize both of these objectives, a form of fitting known as a floor flange or closet flange is secured to the drainpipe. The flange is fastened to the floor with screws or the like and the toilet is secured to the flange by bolts or other means.
The floor flange has an inner sleeve-like member which is fitted onto the upper end of the drainpipe and bonded to the pipe with solvent or solder depending on the materials of which the drainpipe and flange are made or which, in some cases, is clamped to the drainpipe by resilient sealing devices. An annular flange member extends outward from the sleeve and contacts the adjacent portions of the upper surface of the floor. Passages and slots in the flange member receive the screws and bolts which fasten the flange to the floor and secure the toilet base to the flange. The flange member is preferably rotatable relative to the sleeve to facilitate alignment of the slots with the bolt holes in the toilet base after the sleeve has been secured to the drainpipe
The toilet base has a large concavity bounded by front, back and sidewall portions of the base which extend downward to carry the weight of the toilet. Prior closet flanges have been designed to fit within this concavity and to be straddled by the sidewalls of the toilet base which rest directly on the floor. Thus the prior floor flanges are not required to support any of the weight of the toilet.
This traditional construction causes a significant complication in the installation of toilets that has not heretofore been recognized or addressed. In particular, the prior floor flange design makes it necessary that the opening which is cut through the floor to receive the drainpipe and flange be a circular one. The diameter of the flange is limited by the requirement that it not exceed the width of the concavity in the base of the toilet. Consequently, a square opening would not provide for an adequate amount of overlap of the floor surface by the flange. Much of the flange portion of the fitting would be resting over empty space. This would concentrate stresses at four limited areas of the flange member and severely restrict the space available for the screws which attach the flange to the floor.
Forming circular openings in flooring material is more difficult and time consuming than cutting rectangular openings. It would be advantageous if the floor flange construction was seatable over non-circular openings in the flooring and provided for more relaxed tolerances with respect to the dimensions and location of the openings.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.